Singapore shares opened lower as investors turned cautious despite overnight record highs on Wall Street, with sentiment weighed by cooling momentum in technology and semiconductor stocks as well as ongoing geopolitical tensions in West Asia.
The benchmark STI slipped 14.52 points, or 0.29%, to 5,014.28 as at 9.12am, with decliners outpacing gainers 152 to 120 on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
Trading volume stood at 238.09 million securities worth S$443.34 million in early trade.
Among actively watched blue-chip counters, Singtel fell 2.46% to S$4.37, while banking stocks including DBS Group, OCBC Bank and United Overseas Bank were also in focus.
Investor sentiment remained cautious after major US indexes closed at fresh record highs overnight. The DJI rose 0.36%, while the SPX and IXIC also ended at all-time highs.
However, the AI-driven rally showed signs of slowing as semiconductor counters retreated. NVIDIA fell 1%, while Qualcomm dropped 6% and Marvell Technology lost 4.6%.
Regional investors are also closely monitoring developments surrounding US-Iran negotiations and tensions linked to the Strait of Hormuz, alongside the upcoming release of the US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
In the derivatives market, SGX’s Nikkei 225 Index Futures June contract traded at 65,040, while the FTSE China A50 Index Futures stood at 15,747 in early trade.
